Aligning with Grace

I end this month, as I began it - reminding myself to choose joy... Choosing joy was the focus of the free 90 second meditation I posted yesterday on several social media platforms - it was an invitation layered over an inspirational exhortation that a dear friend artistically created, and which I borrowed. I do not just end this month with this thought and practice, but I set the intention to carry it forward - beyond this moment in time, as ripples spreading concentrically from the stillness of its center... I reminded others, while subbing yoga classes yesterday, that they too, can always to choose joy. We can choose joy - we can choose to embody and reflect joy in everything we say and do, even while in the midst of life's most difficult challenges. We should not abdicate our joy for anything - or anyone! For in so doing, we give alway our power and ultimately our very essence. I practiced choosing joy over the last few days - first by reflecting on the Reiki Precepts...

I have been delinquent in posting of late. But as we ease deeper into this summer season, I - like many of you - am just slowing down to more natural rhythms. What gets done gets done - and what doesn't - just doesn't! Right now, I am done teaching yoga for the summer, except for an occasional class here or there, and I am slowly making my way through every closet, drawer, and room, weeding out things I do not need, and organizing as well. It feels good! A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor and pleasure of studying once again with my Reiki teacher, Frans Stiene, who was here visiting from Australia. I decided to re-sit the Reiki III training since I had not done so for a few years. It turns out, the group I spent time with, was the best group ever. They were the most interesting, educated, sensitive group I have ever done any training with. No one spoke out of turn, or constantly, and there was mutual respect and a space for healing was held for others at all times. The ...

"Be who you are, and be that well." ~ Francis de Sales And truly, how can we be anything but who we are? As a child, I was once asked by a nun who was also my teacher, what I wished to be when I grew up. And I simply responded, "A saint." Of course, I had no idea what that meant, but somehow I felt enamored by the lives of the many martyrs I read about. Today, I ask myself, "What was I thinking?" But what I really think I meant, was that I was seeking a life of wholeness. I wanted to be the best person that I could possibly be, and in my childish understanding, I thought those people were saints - people who truly became the best human beings possible. Implicit in my understanding was a sort of perfection, that of course, I know now - does not exist. "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." ~ Matthew 5:48 Even so, we strive for something that at times seems elusive. Can it really be attained?  James Martin, SJ, in h...

I marvel at the insights that can come when we feel most tired, and yet make ourselves go out for a walk. Insights and creativity can sometimes creep up on us most unexpectedly, and make us turn in another direction in our lives... I try to beat the rain, and though exhausted, will myself into taking a walk before the next round arrives... I try to imagine, what it would be like, to live a life that went totally according to plan. MY plan, that is! A life where only the people I wanted populated my world - one in which I related to those I have most desired in the way I wanted - a place where everything would be easy and I would be happy all the time - a life where I truly lived happily ever after... (You know, that kind of place where dreary fairy tales end, but not without first opening a window into a more perfect world, only conceived and played out in restless ruminations? Yeah, that place!) And almost immediately, coming out of nowhere - the first insight arrives dispelli...

Yesterday, was one of those special days that could not have been planned. And perhaps it was such a good day, because I chose to experience joy! Twenty-nine years ago on the first of June, my son was born, who just happened to turn 29 himself. I looked forward to having dinner with him and his girlfriend later in the day. But in the morning, I drove to a dear friend's house, to pick her up and head out to her church to hear her own gifted child sing. This lovely young woman studies music in college and I've had the privilege to see her evolve musically during the last decade. Just as I turned into my friend's driveway, I noticed the clock turned 10:17. This was the exact time my son was born, 29 years to the very minute! And the radio was playing a musical piece by Suzanne Ciani, titled "Mother's Song," that I had first heard in the 80's in a documentary about Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Later on, during my drive home, I marveled at these beautiful...